Fat by the Wayside: Size Exclusion in Exhibitions and Collections of Dress

Abstract

In recent years there has been increased interest in populations historically under-represented in museum collections, including those of diverse color, gender, and class. This paper seeks to add size—specifically fatness—to that list, and advocates for museums to uncover and exhibit their larger pieces of women’s dress. It discusses the interconnection of the fashion industry with the museum to understand the forces that maintain an anti-fat bias in acquisitions and exhibition. It emphasizes the need for change in the museum, not just on the catwalk. It asks museum staff and scholars to acknowledge that fat people existed in history and deserve to be represented through their fashionable dress. It seeks out existing collections of larger clothing and asks why and how they were collected, and it searches for solutions to the difficulties of finding and displaying such garments.

This paper relies upon news articles, historical sources, theses and dissertations, and lastly, a series of interviews with museum, auctions, and sales staff who work with historic and contemporary collections of dress across the US.